Informal discussions have been ongoing between Pakatan Harapan and PAS in recent months, said newly-minted Harapan elections director Azmin Ali today.

While no “formal talks” on an electoral pact had taken place as of yet, he welcomed them.

“There are no formal negotiations with PAS at the moment... but there have been very informal discussions ongoing for the last few months.

“I think we need to step it up and find solutions as soon as possible because elections are just around the corner.

“We are more than happy to sit down with PAS... no official timeline was given to them.

“(In fact,) we are open to talking to any political party that is ready to adopt the Reformasi agenda. We hope to see cooperation (with other parties) under a common framework to unseat BN and Umno in GE14,” Azmin said at the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

He was speaking to reporters after the Harapan election committee announced the forming of an election secretariat to oversee preparations for the polls.

The Selangor menteri besar added that should there be informal discussions with PAS by Harapan leaders, the coalition's leadership council would be informed.

"That is our commitment to the coalition: that we will share this information with the council, we will discuss it and move forward," he said.

Azmin reiterated that his visit to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, together with Harapan deputy chairperson Wan Azizah Wan Ismail on Saturday night, had been a social visit.

“There were no political discussions," he said.

Hadi underwent heart surgery in May and was advised by doctors to rest for two months.

After 18 years of cooperation, PAS announced in April that it was officially cutting ties with PKR. Azmin has continued to keep the party's door open to PAS ever since, while Umno has been hard at work to court the Islamist party.

'Jamal has no credibility'

Meanwhile, Azmin became visibly annoyed when asked to respond to Umno Sungai Besar chief Jamal Yunos’ claim that Harapan component party Bersatu had orchestrated the fracas that ensued from yesterday’s "Nothing To Hide 2" forum.

“We have all seen him in action before. He has no credibility to speak about this,” he remarked, referring to Jamal’s previous publicity stunts.

The forum yesterday was disrupted after a small group threw flares, slippers, bottles and chairs, among others, when Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad was speaking.

Police have arrested several individuals in connection with the incident.